Huge parcel in Kau back on the market

A big piece of the Big Island has been put back up for sale after its owner never went through with a remote coastal resort development plan.

The parcel, which totals 16,455 acres near South Point in the Kau district of Hawaii island, is billed by listing agent Harold Clarke as the largest piece of property for sale in the state. The site, covering nearly 26 square miles, is largely barren lava and includes six miles of coastline.

Kahuku Aina Properties LLC is the seller. It is connected with California-based real estate development firm GH Palmer Associates. Kahuku Aina bought the property, which is zoned for agricultural and conservation uses, in 2006 for $13 million, and is now asking $18 million.

In 2009 an affiliate of Kahuku Aina started to prepare an environmental impact statement for a project called Kahuku Villages with up to 1,970 homes or residential lots, 950 resort hotel or condominium units, a 36-hole golf course and an airstrip. But the environmental study was never completed and published for review.

During a prior Hawaii real estate boom in 1990, a company called Palace Development Corp., led by Charles Chidiac, bought the site for $42.5 million and attempted a project called Hawaiian Riviera Resort with 3,000 vacation units, 927 residential units, 36 holes of golf, an airstrip, a 400-slip boat marina and a cruise-ship dock.